Castiel Novak and the Halloween Ball (Howarts AU Pt 4)
by lunalongbottom2448
Summary: In the past, Castiel couldn't have cared less about finding a date. He and his friends had always just gone in a group to the previous balls. But this year was different. He knew the one person he truly wanted to go with, and that one person seemed determined not to budge.


**A/N: This part was inspired by the Yule Ball, and I took a little creative liberty with there being a Halloween Ball every year. Also prepare for angst. It just wouldn't be a Hogwarts ball without a healthy helping of angst.**

Castiel Novak had made a mistake.

It all started with the announcement of the upcoming Halloween Ball, an annual event that had every student scrambling within minutes after the news. The Ball was always one of the biggest events of the year, and everyone was ecstatic.

Everyone except Castiel, that is. Normally, he looked forward to the Ball just as much as his fellow students. But this year, he was too distracted by the dull pang in his chest every time he heard people talking about their dates and every time he saw Dean so much as smile at him.

In the past, Castiel couldn't have cared less about finding a date. He and his friends had always just gone in a group to the previous balls. But this year was different. He knew the one person he truly wanted to go with, and that one person seemed determined not to budge.

Although this wish for a date was a novelty for him, he was fully aware of the reason behind it. He had always been a relatively patient person, and he'd convinced himself that he could stand to wait until Dean made the first move. But things had been changing between them lately. They had held hands twice in just the last two weeks, a shocking amount of physical contact after no more than some shoulder touches for six years, and Castiel had begun to notice Dean's protectiveness towards him, as well as a suspiciously high amount of blushing, on a frequent basis. This amount of intimacy had led to Castiel depending on these touches and bashful moments, and he began to lose conviction in his decision to wait for Dean to make the first move.

Despite his slipping resolve, Castiel didn't want to get his hopes up and then find himself heartbroken. But the signs all pointed to Dean finally reciprocating what he'd been bottling up for years, even though Dean was proving to be more stubborn than Castiel had bargained for. Castiel found a new hope in these recent circumstances and the possibilities for something more. So, despite his better judgement, Castiel began to think of a way to gently nudge Dean in the right direction.

The idea came to him all at once on a Saturday two weeks before the ball.

He and his friends were sitting together at breakfast, planning out their costumes with the help of Charlie's advice. She had told them that her favorite pastime in the Muggle world was LARPing, and although Castiel had no idea what the term meant, it did seem to qualify Charlie as a costume expert. She had the whole group engrossed in her description of the pros and cons of velcro when Castiel was jarred out of the conversation by an unpleasantly warm hand on his shoulder. He turned around and was dismayed to see Meg standing behind him, wearing her trademark smirk. What could she want?

"Hey Cassie. Hate to interrupt," she said as she graced a disparaging glance upon Castiel's friends. They had all been thoroughly distracted by Meg's sudden appearance, and Castiel was mortified to see that they all were listening in on whatever Meg was about to tell him. He would have liked nothing better than to disappear on the spot.

Unfortunately, Meg continued, "I just had the best idea. Why don't you and I go to that ball together? It's gonna be boring as hell, like always, but maybe we can find some ways to make it a bit more... interesting."

The instinctive response that came to Castiel's mind was, "Hell no!" But as he racked his brain for a politer refusal, a plan began to form. The more Castiel considered it, the more he realized how well this could work. After all, Dean apparently wasn't going to wise up without a sizable push, and what could be a better wake up call than Meg Masters?

So, with the tiniest hint of guilt, Castiel replied, "Sure, Meg, that's a great idea." He forced a pleased smile as he met her triumphant eyes.

"I knew you'd think so. See you then, Cassie," she simpered, raking her eyes over Castiel's torso before turning away and walking back to her Slytherin friends. Castiel suppressed an uncomfortable shiver at her attentions, but he ignored the warning lights that her look had triggered. He knew Meg's reputation, but he also knew that he would have no trouble handling her. With his discomfort eased, he turned back around to see his friends' reactions.

Unsurprisingly, they were horrified. Charlie and Jess's jaws were hanging wide open, Jo looked like she was about to stab her fork straight through the heavy wooden table, Chuck and Benny were both wearing identical expressions of disturbed confusion, and Sam was glaring at him with enough suspicion to burn two holes through his skull. But Castiel barely noticed these responses when he looked at Dean. His best friend's expression appeared blank at first sight, but Castiel knew him well enough to see the confusion and anger burning behind his eyes. Although the observation normally would have shamed him, now it simply validated his scheme.

Hiding his true satisfaction, Castiel put on a delighted smile as he said, "How great is that, you guys? I have a date!" He cringed inwardly at how out of place the words felt in his mouth, but he maintained his faux excitement for his friends to see.

No response. The only real movement from any of the group was Sam sneaking a glance over at Dean. When he saw his brother's expression, his head whipped back to Castiel and the glare he had been sporting intensified to nuclear levels.

It took all of Castiel's willpower not to squirm under the heat of seven fiery gazes, each one resting solely on him, but he managed to push down any growing guilt with a heavy helping of conviction. After all, who were they to tell him who he could and couldn't date? That was his business, not theirs, and they had no right to condemn him for his choice.

With these thoughts running like a mantra in his mind, Castiel stood up, said, "Well, I'd better get going. Lots of homework this weekend, you know?" and made a hasty retreat out of the Great Hall.

He wasn't more than two steps out the wide double doors before he heard his name called by an all-too-familiar voice.

Castiel hesitantly turned around to watch Dean run towards him. He must have started chasing after him as soon as he left, and Castiel ignored the guilt that was still eating away at the pleasure provided by his succeeding plan.

"Cas," Dean said again when he was standing only a few feet away. His eyes were a sea of emotions, but he was still trying to hide them behind a blank expression. The only emotion that managed to slip out was the confusion that Castiel had spotted earlier. "I don't get it. You hate her! What were you thinking?"

"I don't hate her Dean. _You_ hate her. And I really don't understand why, she's actually quite nice."

Dean's confusion began to give way to anger, and Castiel was torn between shame and reluctant triumph for causing Dean to glare at him like this. "You've gotta be kidding me, Cas. Every time she's ever come up to you, you've made it damn clear that you couldn't stand the sight of her. And now you're going on a date? What are you playing at?" Dean was almost hissing in an effort to keep his voice down. They were still outside the entrance to the Great Hall, after all. But Castiel had never heard Dean speak with this much rage before, at least not directed at him. Second thoughts crept up on him as he realized that Dean was not showing any signs of jealousy, simply fury. This hadn't been his intention at all, and Castiel started to panic. But instead of giving in to this fear, Castiel transformed it into righteous anger.

"You have no right to question my decision. I'm allowed to date whoever I want, and I certainly don't have to answer to _you_!"

Dean's glare turned cold at Castiel's words. To Castiel's horror, he could see pain behind Dean's anger, and his heart sunk.

"Well good for you, Cas. I'm sure you'll be very happy together."

Without another word, Dean turned away and stalked off towards the Gryffindor room common room, not even bothering to pick up his robe and bag from the Great Hall.

Castiel stood frozen, shock coursing through his veins and making him unable to think, let alone move. The only thought running through his mind was a constant loop of _nonono_ until he was bumped out of the way by a group of excited second years, breaking him from his trance.

This wasn't how it was supposed to go. Dean was supposed to get jealous, confront Castiel, and then confess his feelings in an effort to save him from Meg. Dean was _not_ supposed to get so angry, and Castiel was _not_ supposed to respond with more anger. But he had been so upset that his plan wasn't working like he had intended, and now all he had succeeded in doing was pushing Dean away.

Castiel took almost no time in reaching the decision to call the whole plan off. In hindsight, it had been ridiculous and unlikely to work anyway, and he knew that if he didn't act now, he could lose Dean forever. Unfortunately, his only option to fix what he had done seemed to be confessing his feelings, despite how terrifying the idea was. He could only hope that Dean's fury had been his way of expressing extreme jealousy, and that he would respond in kind to Castiel's confession.

After making his decision, Castiel ran off after Dean before he could lose the already minuscule courage he had. But when he reached the Gryffindor portrait, it finally occurred to him that he needed the password to get in, and only a Gryffindor would know that. Frustrated at his own lack of foresight, he prepared to run back to the Great Hall to ask Benny, Jo, or Charlie for help, but as he turned around to run back the way he had come, he slammed straight into someone. They would have toppled over if the other person hadn't braced himself and gripped both of Castiel's shoulders to keep him upright. When Castiel looked up to quickly apologize before running off again, his "sorry" was choked off at the sight of Dean looking down at him.

Castiel immediately pulled away from Dean's grip on his shoulders with cheeks burning. He knew what he had come here to say, but now, seeing Dean standing in front of him, he couldn't even meet his eyes, let alone make a love confession. If neither one of them said anything soon, Castiel was very likely to pass out from sheer terror and shame.

"Hey, Cas!" Dean finally said, so unnaturally perky that Castiel had no choice but to meet his eyes in confusion.

"Um," was his only response, but Dean didn't even seem to notice as he barreled on.

"The best thing just happened! You know Lisa, right? Of course you do, she's a Hufflepuff too. Well, we just bumped into each other a couple minutes ago, and we decided to go to the dance together! Isn't that great? Now we both have dates!"

Castiel hadn't known it was possible to feel this heartbroken. He desperately searched Dean's face for any sign of its previous rage, hoping to see even a small sign of proof that Dean was just hiding his jealousy. But if that was indeed the case, Dean was doing an uncannily good job of hiding it.

Castiel managed the smallest of smiles. "Congratulations, Dean. I'm sure you both will have a great time." For a split second, Castiel could have sworn he saw regret in Dean's eyes, but it was gone so quickly that Castiel knew it must have been his own hopeful imagination.

"Thanks, Cas. And you know what, best of luck to you and Meg. Maybe I was too hard on her. Well, I gotta go, see ya later." Dean rushed out his reply before whispering the password and beating a hasty retreat through the Gryffindor portrait.

Castiel stood there for another few minutes, not knowing what to think. _Maybe Dean's just doing this to make me jealous? _he thought hopefully. But he knew that wasn't likely. Castiel had seen Dean looking at Lisa appreciatively before, and he just now realized that he had simply been too blinded by his own feelings to see it as anything besides harmless flirting.

His heart sunk even further as he realized that he must have imagined the whole thing. The handholding, the long gazes, the protectiveness... Castiel had been so wrapped up in his own adoration that he hadn't seen that it was all just an act of friendship by Dean. Even Dean's anger over Meg today had just been him trying to protect his friend from getting hurt.

Castiel ran. He ran away from the portrait, down countless flights of moving stairs, down to the Hufflepuff basement, and into his room before throwing himself onto his bed and curling up under the covers. He didn't cry, but not for lack of pain. He was simply too numb to properly release any of it, and he stared at the underside of his blanket for an indeterminable length of time with just his own self-hating thoughts for company.

The weeks leading up to the ball were the slowest and most miserable Castiel had lived through since coming to Hogwarts.

He hadn't talked to Dean since their meeting outside the Gryffindor common room. They saw each other every day at meals and in their classes, but they never made eye contact or said a word to each other.

Castiel knew it was driving their friends crazy. Every one of them had come up to him at least once and demanded to know what was going on, and Castiel was sure Dean was undergoing the same interrogations. But Castiel refuses to give any explanation, and their friends' continuing frustration was more than enough proof that Dean had done the same.

Sam and Jess pestered him the most, by far. Sam sought him out at least once a day, and Jess took advantage of being in the same house by attempting to pry information out of him at all hours of the day. Castiel had even seen Sam and Jess talking more frequently in the recent days, and he figured they were bonding over their mutual annoyed feelings.

He began to hope that Sam and Jess would end up going to the dance together. The hope might have been a product of him failing with Dean and wanting at least for his friends to be happy, but it soon proved pointless anyway. Jess was asked to the ball by Tyson Brady, the sixth year Slytherin Seeker, and she accepted immediately. She took a break from her questioning of Castiel to tell him how exciting it was that Brady asked her out, even though she was only a fifth year, but Castiel had noticed Sam's crestfallen expression when Jess announced the news to their friends, and he couldn't bring himself to be as happy for her as he should have been. Even worse, Sam announced the next day that he had asked Ruby to be his date, although Castiel could clearly see that the idea was not as exciting to Sam as he tried to make it seem. Castiel hated seeing Sam go through something so similar to his own situation, but he refused to interfere. It hadn't worked out so well for him the last time.

Eventually, all his friends except Sam and Jess stopped demanding answers. Instead, they turned to comforting him, probably hoping to get him to open up naturally. Not that that would ever happen, but Castiel was grateful nonetheless. Charlie utilized her own special brand of comfort by making him a Halloween costume. When she had told him what it was going to be, he had been skeptical, but he had to admit that the final product was surprisingly... him. It was an angel costume, complete with wings and halo, but Charlie had given it a few twists. Instead of a stereotypical white robe, she had found a suit (slightly too big for him due to the lack of time for a fitting) paired with a blue tie and trenchcoat, and she had attached a pair of impressive, yet fluffy black wings to the back of the coat. The halo, a gold band suspended above his head by a wire, was more like a conventional angel costume, but somehow Charlie had managed to make it look more elegant than cheesy. According to her, it was a "rebel angel" costume. Honestly, Cas had no idea where she came up with her ideas, but he loved his costume nonetheless.

Despite his painful regret over the whole situation, Castiel had not broken his promise to go to the ball with Meg. It wouldn't have been fair to her, first of all, and Castiel didn't want Dean to realize that his date with Meg had simply been the product of a foolish and unsuccessful scheme.

So, on the night of the ball, Castiel picked Meg up outside the Slytherin common room. She was wearing a devil costume, horns and tail included, and while she looked fantastic, Castiel couldn't bring himself to really care. He held out his arm to her, determined to be a decent date, and she linked it with her own arm before they walked down to the Great Hall together.

Meg made small talk and flirty remarks the whole way, but Castiel replied with no more than one word responses and small smiles. When they finally got to the ball, though, his spirits raised slightly. The whole Great Hall was filled with jack-o'-lanterns floating in the air, lighting the room in a warm, orange glow. Orange and black decorations and banners lined the walls, and there were many round tables set up around the hall, each one decked out with an orange table cloth and various Halloween themed center pieces, many of them moving.

Castiel spotted Charlie, Jo, Benny (all dressed as something Charlie had called "the Three Musketeers") and Chuck (dressed as a mummy) sitting together at a table with a tiny paper bat flying in circles as a centerpiece, and immediately pulled Meg over to them. His friends greeted him happily and spared a half-hearted hello for Meg before continuing their conversation.

In the next few minutes, Sam and Ruby arrived to sit with them, and Jess and Brady followed soon after. Sam and Ruby were dressed as a ghost and a witch respectively, and while Jess was dressed as a Muggle nurse, Brady seemed to have decided that the idea of costumes was beneath him, and he just wore a simple suit. Ruby and Meg immediately struck up a conversation, so Castiel was free to sit quietly and observe his surroundings.

Much to Castiel's dismay, Dean and Lisa arrived only moments later. They needed to pull up a few extra chairs since the table was beginning to get crowded, and Castiel purposefully avoided looking at Dean as he and Lisa sat down directly across the table. He looked up after a few moments, and his heart skipped a beat when he saw that Dean was looking at him for the first time in weeks. In the back of his mind, Castiel realized he should look away, but he had missed this terribly, and Dean was looking right back, so he continued his gaze.

Dean was wearing a costume made of several different shades of brown leather that also included a leather belt holding a sword and a sheet of chain mail draped across the front of his chest and shoulders. Castiel felt a blush beginning to spread, and he hurriedly broke their intense gaze to keep Dean from seeing. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Dean still looking at him for another few seconds before turning away to talk to Sam.

Castiel decided that he needed to take his attention far away from Dean. To distract himself, he began to observe their group more closely. It didn't escape Castiel's notice that Sam kept glancing at Jess, and he was surprised to see Jess doing the same. She made an effort to talk to Brady, but she seemed quite bored and uncomfortable.

During the feast, conversation became even more scarce. Castiel realized that the only people talking consistently were those without dates. Meg tried to get him to open up, and Ruby tried with Sam, but both boys made very little effort in return. None of this truly surprised Castiel except for Dean. Dean hadn't said one word since his short conversation with Sam over a half an hour ago, and Lisa, wearing a princess costume, failed in all her attempts at speaking to him, only winning herself a handful of varying grunts as answers.

Castiel didn't understand. He had thought that Dean liked Lisa, but now it seemed exactly the opposite. Castiel almost felt bad for Lisa as her attempts at conversation grew more feeble by the minute, and he began to worry that his presence was making Dean too uncomfortable to speak to anyone.

After the feast, most students stood up to go dance in the space cleared out in the middle of the Great Hall. Sam and Jess both stood up at their dates' insistence, and they were soon followed by Jo and Benny, as well as a laughing Charlie and struggling Chuck. This left Castiel and Dean alone with their dates, and Castiel could almost see the awkward tension hanging in the air between them.

After a few minutes of silently sitting and watching people dance, Meg spoke up. "Wanna go outside for a minute, Cassie? It's getting awfully warm in here with all that dancing." Desperate to get away from Dean, Castiel nodded and stood up, allowing Meg to lead him away. He resisted the urge to shoot one more look back at Dean.

When they finally got outside, Meg led him far enough away from the doors that they were out of sight and alone, except for a few other pairs of students hiding nearby. Meg sat down on the grass, patting the ground next to her. Castiel hesitantly sat next to her.

He was surprised and pleased when she pulled out a small bottle from her purse, and when she said, "I thought you could use a little drink," he wasted no time in grabbing it from her hands and taking a long swig. The alcohol burned down his throat, but he was so desperate to get rid of the pain in his chest that he didn't care.

The relief was short-lived, however. After only a few sips of the drink, Meg pulled it out of his hands, despite his grunt of protest, and pulled herself onto his lap. His eyes widened in surprise and he tried to push her off, but she didn't move an inch, no matter how hard he tried. She pushed him onto his back on the ground, crushing his wings and knocking off his halo, and his throat closed up in fear as he realized that he could barely move his arms and legs. "Meg," he gasped out. "What did you do?"

"Oh don't worry, Cassie, it's nothing permanent. I just knew that I'd probably have to get you to loosen up tonight, so I borrowed a little relaxation potion from Crowley's collection." She smirked, and the sight had never scared Castiel so much as it did now.

"Meg, get off me. Now," he demanded, trying his best to sound threatening despite his nearly helpless limbs. But Meg simply laughed and reached down to hold his head in place so that his mouth was against hers.

Castiel tried to push her away once more, and when she didn't budge, he did the only thing he could. He sharply bit into her lip, and yelled for help as soon as his mouth was free.

Meg pulled away, gasping in pain, and Castiel was terrified by the mix of anger and arousal in her eyes. "Now, that wasn't very nice," Meg sneered, and his terror only multiplied as she reached down, about to rip open his shirt.

Suddenly, her weight was lifted off of him. It took far more effort than normal to lift his head up, but he managed just enough to see Dean standing over Meg, breathing heavily with fists clenched, and Meg cowering at the intimidating sight.

"Get out of here, Meg. We can deal with you later." Dean said the words with barely controlled rage, making it perfectly clear that he would have liked nothing better than punching her repeatedly in the face.

Meg ran off immediately, scrambling to stand up and get away.

As soon as she was out of sight, a Dean dropped to his knees besides Castiel. "Cas, are you okay?" His tone was so gentle and concerned, the polar opposite of what it had been only moments before.

"I-I'll be fine," he replied, furious with himself for the tiny break in his voice.

Dean seemed to notice it, and he paused before slowly reaching his hand up and smoothing back Castiel's hair. Castiel resisted the overwhelming urge to lean into the comforting touch.

"What did she do to you?" Dean finally asked, vengeful rage creeping back into his voice.

Castiel recounted everything that had happened since they came outside, and Dean's expression grew darker with every word. When Castiel was done, Dean nearly growled as he said, "I'm gonna kill her. Painfully. Or get her expelled."

"Maybe both?" Castiel said, with the tiniest hint of sarcasm. Dean studied his face for a moment before identifying Castiel's feeble attempt at a joke, and he smiled and let out a huff of a laugh. Castiel's heart ached, but in a far less painful way than it had been aching for the past two weeks. He had missed that smile, and he was determined to do everything in his power to never lose it again.

Dean eventually broke the silence by saying, "Can you stand yet?" Castiel gingerly tried moving his legs, and was relieved when they actually obeyed. He was still weak, but improving quickly.

Dean helped Castiel sit up, but before he could help him stand, Castiel stopped him with a hand on his forearm. Dean settled back down on the grass so he was sitting on Castiel's left side, and tilted his head in question.

Castiel braced himself for what he was about to say. "I'm sorry about Meg." Dean started to interrupt at that, but Castiel quickly clarified, "No, not what just happened. I mean when she asked me out and I said yes. You were right, I couldn't stand her, but... I said yes to make you jealous."

Dean froze on the spot. His expression was unreadable, and Castiel immediately panicked. _Oh God, he hates me. What have I done?_ he thought.

Finally, Dean spoke. "Does that mean what I think it means?" he asked carefully, expression still giving nothing away.

"Yes, Dean, I..." Castiel paused. 'Love' was the most accurate word, but he didn't want to scare Dean off any more than he probably already had. So he finished, "I like you."

Dean stared at him, and then turned away to hide his face in his hands. "I... God, Cas, I don't know what to say."

Castiel's last ounce of hope was slowly but surely disappearing. "It's okay if you don't feel the same way, Dean. Really, I promise I'll get over it soon enough." He began to stand up on his own, but Dean hurriedly gripped his arm to stop him.

"Wait, Cas. I don't... I don't know if I feel that way about you or not. I've just never really thought about it. Can you... I don't know, give me some time or something?"

Dean's expression was finally open enough for Castiel to read it, and he saw confusion and hope clearly displayed there for all to see.

Castiel's first instinct was to be disappointed. But, he reminded himself, he had waited for Dean for more than five years. What was the harm of a little more time if he might have the chance to be with him at the end of it?

"Yes, Dean. All the time you need," Castiel said, placing a gentle and comforting hand over the chainmail on Dean's right shoulder. Dean leaned into the touch, and Castiel continued, "And thank you, Dean. For getting here when you did."

Dean smiled again, rendering Castiel completely speechless. "You're welcome, Cas," he replied softly. He paused only a moment before reaching his arm around Castiel's shoulders and pulling him close in a comforting embrace.

Castiel smiled and rested his head against Dean's shoulder. For this, he knew he could be patient.


End file.
